5.  The first applicant, a limited liability company, was incorporated on 6 September 1995 by a decision of the Didube District Court of Tbilisi, Georgia. The second applicant was born in 1960 and lives in Tbilisi.
6.  In 1995 the Amat Shipping Company Limited and the second applicant founded a limited liability company called Amat-G, the applicant company, in Georgia. The second applicant was appointed general manager of that company.
7.  Amat-G imported fish products from African countries to Georgia. In the years 1996-98, the company paid more than 1,000,000 United States dollars (USD) (approximately 970,874 euros (EUR)[1]) to the State budget in taxes and was considered by the State Tax Department to be a “large tax payer”.
8.  In 1998-99 Amat-G supplied the Georgian Ministry of Defence with various types of fish products at different prices.
9.  However, the Ministry of Defence paid only part of the amount due to Amat-G.
10.  On 29 October 1999 the applicants brought civil proceedings against the Ministry of Defence in the Tbilisi Regional Court for breach of contract and consequential damage, claiming a total of 662,526 Georgian laris (GEL) (EUR 296,771).
11.  In a judgment of 6 December 1999, the Panel for Civil and Commercial Affairs of the Tbilisi Regional Court partly allowed the action of the applicant company, ordering the Ministry of Defence to pay the company compensation of GEL 254,188 (EUR 113,860).
12.  The judgment was never challenged and became binding on 6 January 2000.
13.  On 22 March 2000 the applicants appealed to the execution department of the Ministry of Justice, requesting the immediate enforcement of the judgment.
14.  On 23 March 2000 the enforcement officer of the execution department ordered the Ministry of Defence to pay the applicant company, voluntarily, within one month.
15.  Upon the expiry of that period, the enforcement officer initiated the forcible execution procedure against the Ministry of Defence. He sent the centre of expertise of the Ministry of Justice a list of non-military buildings that could be put up for sale by tender in order to discharge the debt. However, that was the only step taken and the judgment of 6 December 1999 remained unexecuted.
16.  On 10 July 2000 the Ministry of Defence appealed to the Tbilisi Regional Court, seeking a stay of execution of the judgment of 6 December 1999, in accordance with the provisions of Article 263 of the Code of Civil Procedure. However, the Regional Court dismissed the ministry's request on 3 August 2000, concluding that “postponement of the enforcement would negatively affect the applicant company's interests and violate the principle of an equitable and adversarial hearing”. The ministry was consequently obliged to enforce the judgment without delay, yet it still failed to pay the debt.
17.  During the same period, Amat-G signed a contract with the Amat Shipping Company Corporation on 19 January 2000 for the lease of a ship at a monthly rate of USD 45,000 (EUR 43,689).
18.  On 20 January 2000 Amat-G contacted the Ministry of Defence, explaining that the money owed to it by the ministry was the only means which the applicant company had to pay for the lease of the ship. The applicant company waited eight months in vain to obtain payment of the debt from the Ministry of Defence. Meanwhile, the bill for the lease of the ship had risen to USD 511,200 (EUR 496,311). Amat-G also claimed that it had lost USD 1,344,421 (EUR 1,305,263) in business profits as a result of the ministry's failure to pay the debt on time. In addition, the applicant company faced a tax bill of GEL 41,213 (EUR 18,460).
19.  For these reasons, in September 2001 Amat-G brought an action before the Panel of Administrative Law and Taxation Affairs of the Tbilisi Regional Court against the Ministries of Defence, Justice and Finance, in order to hold them collectively responsible for the harm caused by the non-execution of the judgment of 6 December 1999, in accordance with Article 411 of the Civil Code. The company claimed damages of USD 1,855,621 (EUR 1,801,574) and GEL 41,213 (EUR 18,460).
20.  The Regional Court dismissed the claim on 20 February 2002 on the basis of the provisions of Article 412 of the Civil Code.
21.  On 10 July 2002 the Supreme Court of Georgia dismissed the applicant company's appeal against the Regional Court's decision of 20 February 2002.
22.  The judgment debt of 6 December 1999 has still not been paid, some five and a half years later.